Fallen Kingdom is a 2D action sidescroller with an emphasis on Co-op. It takes place in a fictional fantasy world, and the story draws from books such as the Lord of the Rings and Wheel of Time. It's exclusive to PC, Vita, and Wii U, for reasons you will soon see, but I will write the blog only as if it is coming for Wii U so I don't have to continuously mention how it would work on other consoles.

The game is basically an answer to those who want both exceptional stories, and fun couch co-op - it's like watching a movie with family or friends. I was inspired from Lord of The Rings and Wheel of Time, as I've said, but also Trine and comments made by the Child of Light creator. I'll start from the beginning.

Gameplay

For those who have played Trine, you'll know the basic framework: A 2D platformer with intricately detailed backgrounds that often interact with the plane that you are on. However, it's not a puzzle game. It has physics more akin to that of a standard platformer, it's very fast-paced with sprinting and different levels of jumps, etc. It is an action game, so depending on what class of character you choose, there'll be different kinds of combat, each with a multitude of options for taking down enemies and traversing the environment.

It's up to five players, but since different levels will have different amounts of characters to play as due to the story, and different levels need different characters to proceed, if you don't have enough players to make up the difference an excellent AI will come in and take over the job, and if you have too many players for the number of characters, sometimes two of the same character will be on screen at once with different colored clothing. Levels change in design depending on your character layout. Hopefully I explained that all clearly enough, haha. There is online co-op, as well, and this is suggested for those without many players.

All character types have different methods of attacking, but base controls are as such: B for jump, ZL for sprint, L-stick to move, ZR for blocking, Y for a quick jump backwards to dodge attacks, and X to jump quickly forward (for jumping at an enemy while their guard is down or beginning a sprint without gathering momentum). Character types are as follows:

Wizard: using the Gamepad, you can move and blow up objects that have a yellow outline on the touchscreen. Using the environment, you can destroy enemies with proper placement and strategy. There is also a large staff for fending off and initiating light attacks.

Assassin: Two swords for short-ranged, yet powerful attacks by pressing A. This character requires more precise timing for blocking than others.

Elf: uses a bow with expertise using the R-stick. Can release a flurry of arrows by holding down R to load and then releasing. You still aim using the R stick during this. Also a short knife using A for VERY short ranged combat against weak enemies. Cannot block attacks.

Knight: a single sword and shield. Best for blocking, and his attack is standard. Can also use a bow, but it isn't as easy to control as the elf's.

Dwarf: An axe. A heavy weapon that inflicts huge damage, and is a very effective blocker.

Level design has genius, unique ideas every level like the best of 2D platformers, but all the ideas are meshed together with the world, visuals, and combat to make it all feel seamless. Combat is intense and frantic, yet always easy to understand what's going on, even with five players. There is a boss at the end of every other level or so. More importantly, there are huge set pieces every so often where you have to sprint as fast as possible with everything being destroyed around you, striking and jumping on instinct at only the right times, ala Rayman Origins' treasure chest levels. For example, there's one where you're on a fleet of ships and a giant sea monster is crashing into everything going after you, and you need to jump from ship to ship as they get destroyed, striking whenever the monster shows a weak point.

There are also infinite runner levels every now and again to shake things up - when you're on a horse or giant bird, it goes to a behind view, and you need to navigate through, only able to go left and right, jump, speed up, or strike. There are also levels with no real objectives - you explore a town or city, interacting with the NPCs and picking up optional quests that only go for a level or two to extend your health or other small upgrades. The level selection screen looks like a map from a fantasy book, showing the entire world and when you click on a section goes in to select your level. You unlock more and more of the map as you progress through the story, showing a dotted line as the journey so far, twisting and turning through the map. Every level has three hidden mirror shards to collect, which if you collect all of them send you to a single player challenge level that test your skills. And I think that's about it for gameplay.

Story

In the fourth age, there was a beautiful kingdom. The nations were at peace, united under the rule of a great king, and the world seemed destined to be prosperous forever. It was not, however, to last. A man who lusted for power found it in the northern mountains and became a god among men. He raised up an army, and caused destruction upon the land. Nation upon nation fell to his might, and the entire world was threatened to be plunged into darkness forever. Nothing could stop this overwhelming force of evil - until eventually, a brave knight went out to stop him. Their battle went on for what seemed like an age, until at long last, the brave knight struck the dark being, a blow that should have slain him. Yet this man - if he could be called a man - did not die. Instead, a black mist surrounded him, and he woke again with a vengeance in his eyes. Knowing that he could not slay the man and all could be lost, the knight gathered the seven beings of magic together, and they gathered their power as the knight and the evil being once again locked swords. Using a power now unknown to us, they managed to seal the dark one away into his sword, locking his soul away from the world for an eternity. However, it could not be controlled - the knight, too, was sealed to his sword. Thus was the sacrifice for the world.

The fifth age began. The armies of darkness fell. The world began to rebuild. Peace returned to the kingdom, and as the nations prospered, the memories of the atrocities that shook the world were slowly forgotten, becoming a legend that survived only as a whisper through time. Millenia passed. And a lost relic of this story was discovered. It is here, that our story begins - here that, once again, the kingdom threatens to fall, and this time, perhaps none will be there to save it.

Obviously, this is just the intro - it'll be a voiceover of basically this, with some light adjustments to make it more, you know, good. This is a fairly new idea for me, so the story isn't terribly fleshed out.

Essentially, it begins with two young men finding a sword in a stream near their village - the tutorial is them simply walking to the river, talking to townsfolk on the way. A huge beacon of black light shoots up the second one of them touches it, and everyone for hundreds of miles around sees it. One of the seven wizards of the kingdom happens to be somewhat nearby (named Rasel - pronounced rah-zel), and hurries to a nearby capital to get a team to check it out. Because there were talks between the nation of Alasrea, a nation of men where the capital lies, and the elves and the dwarves over small disputes at the time, he gets a single knight, elf, and dwarf to go with him as the scouting party to discover what was happening in the lands abandoned by rulers long ago - only small villages reside there, now.

So they set out and after a few levels, arrive where the light was. They come up to the village, but find only ruined buildings, burned skeletons, and a complete lack of any nature - carnage that hadn't been seen since the fourth age.

I think it might take me too long to tell the tale if I continue with this level of detail, so I'll back off a bit, mostly because I have few ideas how it should proceed from here. But anyways, they find out that the evil returned and took over the guy from he village's body, possessing him until he can get back his own body. He flees to his old domain and begins building up another army. A buncha stuff happens, new characters are introduced, the heroes discover the location of the Knight's sword, go after the bad guy. Lots of plot twists, but soon there's a big war. They hunt down the evil dude, and the knight from near the beginning of the game, who had touched the white sword with the spirit of the ancient hero, fights the guy. The knight wins, but the evil dude laughs, and tells them that it was never him that brought evil into the world - he was given the power. He grabs both swords and then disappears, and a cutscene shows him descending into a dark cavern in the mountains to the north, yells about how he failed his master, and how the world should know the true power of darkness, and that he would release him using the power of light and shadow. He throws the two swords into the pit. The mountains rumble and then explode in fire and darkness, as an evil forgotten in ages long past once again breaks free.

Boom. Trilogy. To be continued.

Gameplay in further games stays basically the same, but ramps up in challenge, scope, and variety. Bigger set pieces, harder enemies, even cooler level design. Every game is about 30-40 hours long.

A TON more in the story happens, but it ends with them, surprise surprise, destroying whatever the super evil thing ends up being. Characters throughout the games all have distinct, interesting personalities, and they're often in conversation during downtime in levels. Cutscenes are fully animated and voiced.

Visuals and Music

The game is vibrant and bursting with color, yet has an edge of realism to it. Every area looks beautiful, with gorgeous, unique and intricately designed backgrounds that bring the world to life. Music is composed by Howard Shore and Ari Pulkkinen, Shore surpassing his work with Lord of the Rings to give the world a feel of its' own, and Ari doing individual level music.

Whoo! That was tough work. What do you guys think? Any ideas how I could fix the story? Like the gameplay and everything?

I came up with the idea through several different inspirations. First, I realized that there never could quite be a game that can match what lord of the Rings or Wheel of Time did in the 3D space because there are too many factors that would get in the way. Second, there was the Child of Light creator who said that he wanted to make a story-focused game that a child could play with its parent. And then I thought that Trine would be far more interesting if it had a more detailed story, and was more fast-paced. The result is above. I hope you enjoyed!

So, I spoiled the result of the review in the title, which as far as writing goes, probably isn't the best idea. In this case, however, it's warranted, because Wonderful 101 is threatening to become a niche game few have played, and it deserves so, so much more than that. Because this game is - dare I make the overused pun? - wonderful. It takes an established genre and perfects nearly everything about it, while simultaneously being one of the most unique games I've ever played. It's beautiful, it's witty, it's surprising, it's epic, and most importantly, it's just so unbelievably fun.

We'll start with the elephant in the room - the controls. They're not bad. In fact, I'd say they're great. While using the Wii U's touchscreen is an adequate way to do things, it disrupts the pacing considerably and opens up to more enemy attacks. However, with a small bit of practice and a bit of skill, you can use the proper control scheme - the right stick. It allows for quick weapon changing and combos, keeping the action moving fast. After about an hour or two, everything is down to muscle memory, and the game controls like a dream.

So with everyone's main complaint out of the way, how's the rest of the game? First up is the story. It's really good. Not amazing, but really good. It's well paced, very intense, with surprising moments of emotional impact. It's not the story that's so good, though - it's the writing. The game is incredibly witty, and actually reminded me a lot of a Pixar film. I legitimately laughed out loud very often, and whenever the game starts getting serious, they add touches of levity through dialogue to keep the game from getting too dark - which I thought was the right choice. This isn't a game to take too seriously. The characters are absolutely ridiculous, and although I wasn't huge on Wonder-Pink, every other character had distinct personalities that worked off each other brilliantly. The conversations between Red, Blue, and Green are always hilarious, and Yellow, on the rare occasion he says something, never fails to make me laugh like crazy.

The visuals are great, too. Not when they get up too close, sure, but it looks like a Saturday morning cartoon - and a great looking one. Everything runs smoothly, is very vibrant, and is in general a pleasure to look at. It's nothing particularly noteworthy, but it really adds a lot to the atmosphere. Music, too, is fantastic. There's a lot of generic stuff in there, but several songs are just brilliant (particularly the main theme), and all of it keeps the intensity high and the heart racing for the brilliant action the game has in store.

And while we're on the subject of action... whoa. Regular combat is a very enjoyable experience. As we've already covered, the controls are instinctual, so it all comes down to how you can beat your enemy in the most efficient way possible, or if it's a new enemy type, just how to beat the enemy. One or two get fairly tedious to fight after a while, but most are simply a blast - and if you're having too much trouble with an enemy, there's always a more effective route to find. The amount of depth in the game is nothing short of staggering. Being the kind of player who just wants to beat the game first time through, on my second playthrough of the game I'm already realizing more and more tricks to take down the increasingly challenging enemies, and I still know I've only scratched the surface. Combat is amazingly fun on the surface, but once you start going deep into the game's mechanics, it only gets better.

Yet gameplay is far more than combat. The amount of variety in every level is nothing short of astounding. I don't want to spoil anything, but a half a dozen genres make their appearances for a level or two, each fitting seamlessly into the game. These segments aren't overcomplicated, and are extremely easy to get the hang of, yet still have enough complexity for them to remain completely engrossing throughout the entire one or two levels they feature in. If there's one negative to the game, it'd be the occasionally frustrating platforming segments, and sometimes the camera is horrid when entering a building and the game switches to the gamepad to solve a light puzzle. Other than that, the game is basically flawless.

If there's one thing that truly puts this game over the top, however, it's the bosses and set pieces. They're unbelievable, and the very definition of over-the-top. Epic, breathtaking, challenging, and generally insane, every single one will leave you with a giant smile on your face, feeling like a complete bad@$$. Many of these bosses have taken the top spots in my favorite game moments ever, and you haven't experienced epic until you've fought the final boss. Smaller bosses are brilliant, as well - that is, the one's that operate purely in the normal battle system, and ignore set pieces. Prince Vorkken battles were easily my favorites of the game, requiring perfect timing and strategy, yet they're still very forgiving. That's really how the entire game is, requiring extremely challenging things from the player, yet giving them limitless opportunities to do it, and it turns a game that otherwise would have been very frustrating into one that you can't stop playing.

I've done a horrible job explaining how great this game is. Part of that is, I think, through just how unique the game is, but mostly because it's not just one part of the game that makes it so great or noteworthy, but how everything meshes together. I was going to use this paragraph to explain just how it does it, but I couldn't think of how to do it properly, even after trying out a few sentences. It needs to be experienced to be understood. And that's a real pity, because it makes communicating what makes the game so great very hard, and as such, not many people will be able to play this masterpiece.

Again - I've done a horrid job attempting to explain. But the game is exceptional. It's beautiful, it's epic, it's intense, it's insane, it's hilarious. It's surpassed Wind Waker and become my second favorite game of all time. Kamiya has crafted another masterpiece, and a game has, at long last, made me feel my Wii U purchase was worthwhile.

9.8/10

Say you were put in charge of a fairly large team - maybe 60-80 people, or so. You've made great games before, and they all trust you completely - they follow your lead no matter what, and any games your studio makes are from your own mind. A major publisher - Ubisoft, maybe, or Nintendo, or Sony - come up to you and say they want your team to create a new IP. You can do whatever you want, so long as it's not based off an existing franchise.

What would you make?

(I'm putting this here because I don't know what other pictures I should post. So, my first photoshop, ladies and gentleman!)

I'm not sure if something like this has been done before, but I really want to know what kind of games you guys would make, and writing it in comments doesn't let as many people see it, nor who wrote it as easily. So I was thinking everyone could write a blog. Nothing too fancy unless you want to, of course, but enough to show everyone your dream game. In about two weeks - Saturday, September 28th - I'll round up every blog and make a big hub so people can see everyone's. Once you're done, just write a comment or write on my wall with the link.

What's the outline of the story? Who are the characters? How does it start? What are some major events? How does it end?

Who composes the music?

What's the art style? How does the game look?

Etc. Etc. Remember, you can go as detailed with this as you want, from a five sentence paragraph to individual level designs. I just think it'll be fascinating to see what you guys come up with. If you have any questions just ask me in the comments, I probably forgot to mention something in the blog. And with that..... have fun!

Oh wait, I almost forgot - To make things more interesting, I'm giving away five dollars in Wii U E-shop credit or a copy of Super Smash Bros. for the Wii VC through codes. On the hub blog, everyone will vote for their favorite - aside from their own, of course - and whoever gets the most votes gets to choose which prize they want! The second place will get the other prize. If one of the winners doesn't have the proper console(s) to use their prize on, well, we'll figure something out.

And with that, show me - and everyone else - what you've got! I can't wait to see your ideas!

A lot of people are complaining about Nintendo playing it too safe recently. In response to these comments, many people have said that Nintendo is putting out their safer games first, with unique stuff in development for after the Wii U is up on it's feet. As I've done blogs going in-depth into Nintendo's studios to figure out what all is in development once or twice since IGN proper did it two years back, and usually guessed correctly as to what they're making through this method, I feel now is a good time to give it another go, to see just how many more teams Nintendo has up their sleeves, and what they could be working on.

Entertainment Analysis and Development

EAD, overseen by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka, is where Nintendo's internally developed games get made, as well as a couple of teams that are technically part of EAD that work on engines and Development Kits, but those I don't think we need to mention. In theory, the EAD department consists of five teams working on different types of games, but even the smallest bit of examination proves this false - aside from a small core team, employees switch between teams as needed, several groups work on multiple projects at once, and other games are seemingly developed by no specific team, so there could be any number of games in development at the moment, especially considering Nintendo's current attempt to expand and hire new people. And then there's the Tokyo teams, as well.

EAD Group 1

Produced and managed by Hideki Konno, Group 1 works on Mario Kart and Nintendogs games. With Mario Kart 8 revealed and underway, I find it hard to believe they are working on multiple titles with Nintendo undoubtedly being stretched thin as it is; their main team is clearly working on hard on making MK8 the best it can be (and does it look good!), so it's doubtful they have any extra members to spare for a smaller project.

After Mario Kart is released next spring, however, what they could work on is up in the air. It seems too early for them to begin making Mario Kart for the next inevitable handheld, and there have been several comments about this series from Konno and Miyamoto, so maybe F-Zero?

EAD Group 2

Group 2 has two teams and, headed by Katsuya Eguchi, created the Wii line of games the past generation, such as Wii Sports/Resort, Wii play, and Wii Music, is in charge of the Animal Crossing series, and made Nintendoland. Their first team (the Wii ____ series and Nintendoland) works very closely with Nintendo's hardware studio, and there's actually some overlap member-wise between the two groups so that they can exploit the hardware's unique features to it's fullest. As it's been a fair bit of time now since Nintendoland was complete, they're certainly working on something else; but what could it be? Are they working on Wii Sports U and/or Nintendoland 2 for once two Gamepad support becomes a reality, or are they working on something different from their norm? I wouldn't be so foolish as to presume the latter, so another party game of sorts for whatever reason that exploits the Gamepad is most likely.

They also have the Animal Crossing team, of course. While it's possible this team is working on a Wii U edition of the game, after the meager success of the series on consoles compared to handhelds, I wouldn't be surprised if they're working on another game for 3DS, a new IP that shares similarities to Animal Crossing, or have briefly been split up/meshed with another team to help on other games until it's time for the series to return again. It could be anything. Whatever the case, I put my money on a 3DS game.

EAD Group 3

Group 3, headed by Eiji Aonuma, is unarguably the most popular of the the five groups, as they are in charge of The Legend of Zelda. Not a whole lot to say here, as three games are in development by them and we know about them all - Wind Waker HD, A Link between Worlds, and Zelda Wii U, with the former two having teams that will mesh with the U team as the game enters full production after ALBW and WWHD finish development.

EAD Group 4

Here's where things get interesting. Group 4, managed by Hiroyoki Kimura and often closely supervised by producers like Takashi Tezuka and Shigeru Miyamoto, is in charge of the New Super Mario Bros Series and the Pikmin series, most recently having released NSMB2, NSMBU, and Pikmin 3. With three different teams, all of them with games that have been released somewhat recently, I think they have the most possibility of creating something unexpected. Let's start with the New Super Mario Bros. U team.

Obviously, they've been busy with the games' DLC, New Super Luigi U, but now that's done, what have they begun work on, or intend to start creating? While some might presume to think they'll create another NSMB game, I find that rather unlikely, as Iwata specifically stated that there was only one NSMB game per console, and while he said Miyamoto could change that if he wanted to, I don't see it happening. So if it's not Mario, then what? I have absolutely no idea, and that excites me. I don't even know where to start, because their history has about nothing except 2D Mario, so if they're not making that, a team of Nintendo veterans could be doing anything. It's exciting to think about, isn't it?

There's also the new Super Mario Bros 2 team, filled with mostly new game designers at the company. While a few of them were brought over to finish Luigi U in good time, most of them must have moved on after NSMB2, or maybe its DLC, was complete. Onto what, there have been no hints, but a team made almost entirely from new blood could be working on any number of things, and I have yet another feeling that it isn't more Mario. Actually, I have a suspicion that this may be the team Miyamoto is working closely with on a new IP, as they would be fairly deep into development if they started right after NSMB2 finished, which would tie in with Miyamoto's comment that his new IP has been keeping him busy for a while. That's my only guess, though - this is newbie blood. It's unpredictable.

And then of course we have the Pikmin 3 team, with a game that's just released last month, which means they're soon to get started on a new title. This is easily the most interesting team to me, as Pikmin 3 seems to be everything we love Nintendo for - brilliant, unique, charming, and beautiful. What this team might move on to is exciting to think about. Perhaps a classic series, like Star Fox? Something new? I'd say they might make another Pikmin, but 3 was only made because Miyamoto wanted to make it, and if he accomplished everything he wanted to, we most probably will see another hiatus for the series. That said, 100%ing Pikmin 3 gives a cliffhanger, which might suggest plans for an immediate sequel. A portable Pikmin experience seems most likely if there are plans for immediate continuation of the series. It could just be a little easter egg they added, though - there's plenty this team might work on next.

EAD Group 5

Now we're back to where we absolutely know what they're making. Group 5, overseen by Tadashi Sugiyama, is in charge of the Wii Fit games and helps with the Steel Diver series. Obviously, Wii Fit U is coming this December, and then they're also helping Vitei (a small second party studio that has done nothing yet but create Steel Diver) make a Free To play version of Steel Diver.

EAD Tokyo

EAD Tokyo, managed by Takao Shimizu and Yoshiaki Koizumi, is technically two teams, and always have been, but they've only ever made one major game at a time, while the other team helps on smaller games, such as Flipnote, or the recent 3DS Zelda remakes. Their main team has, up to now, only worked on the recent 3D Mario titles and Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, with Mario 3D World being their current project. However, Comments from Miyamoto and Koizuma seem to imply they're working on multiple, full-scale projects.

Miyamoto brought up two different examples of this during our discussion. He mentioned that he's been working with Yoshiaki Koizumi, one of the lead developers at Nintendo's EAD Tokyo studio and producer of Super Mario 3D Land and 3D World, "on what we can do to allow the Tokyo studio to create more games."

-An IGN interview with Miyamoto

What will you be working on next?

"I can't reveal it now, but we'll have an announcement soon."

-Yoshiaki Koizumi in an interview with El Pais

By no means a confirmation, but it definitely sounds like another major game is being made by Tokyo, and from other recent comments it seems like SM3DW is the only 3D Mario being made right now. So what could it be? With Yoshiaki's background in wanting to make games with drama not able to be found in film, and his outrageous success as a director for Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, and Mario Galaxy, I'd be most interested in seeing a new IP from them, but I'd be excited no matter what these guys do. Whatever the case, I'm interested to see what this could be.

Recap

I wouldn't be so presumptuous as to assume I know how Nintendo operates, but I think I've gotten the gist of what Nintendo's internal studios may attempt to do. Of course, SPD is another software department inside Nintendo, but as they only help with external studios, analyzing them is rather pointless. At any rate, here's the recap: One EAD2 team is probably working on a new Animal Crossing title, though a new IP or a little-popular franchise is also possible. The other is most likely creating another mini-game collection to show off the Gamepad. Three EAD4 teams could be working on absolutely anything, one filled with Nintendo veterans, one comprised mostly of newbies, and the other the developer of Pikmin 3, arguably Nintendo's most creative recent game. Everything else is revealed, confirmed, or being created by an unknown studio.

External First Party Studios

Of course, Nintendo also has several talented external studios fully owned by them around the world making major first party titles under close supervision from SPD.

ND Cube

Now largely comprised of ex Hudson employees, ND Cube works on the Wii Party and Mario Party series, with Wii party U and Mario party 3DS both releasing this fall. In all likelihood these two series are all they'll work on for the foreseeable future.

Retro Studios

When looking at Retro's incredible portfolio, many people let their mind race as to what Retro's next game could be. Many were disappointed that it was a sequel to 2010's exceptional DKCR, but Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze looks amazing to me. It still is not a decision that many fans are happy about, though, so the real question on everybody's mind is whether or not they have expanded to two teams. There is a possibility of that: they moved to a bigger building, there's been tons of hiring and we have no idea how many spots they've needed to fill. But they outright said they're still only one major team. Nevertheless, it seems unlikely that they won't expand in the near future, so hopefully we'll get three Retro games over the coming generation and not just two, as usual.

Monolith Soft

Nintendo's biggest JRPG developer, Monolith was bought out from Namco and has since made the incredible Xenoblade, with one of the biggest upcoming Wii U games - tentatively titled "X" - slated for next year. With a project this big in the works, normally I'd say there was no chance of multiple projects being in development. However, Monolith opened a new studio in Kyoto, approximately a thirty man (and woman) team, which so far has only helped with the art for Nintendo games such as Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Zelda: Skyward Sword, and Pikmin 3. however, evidence seems to suggest that they're working on a big 3DS game, so some sort of JRPG for the 3DS to be revealed in the near future seems more than likely.

HAL Labs

HAL is well known for its work on the Kirby series, and creating the Super Smash Bros games through Melee. In the old days they made literally dozens of games per system, but they slowed down as tech and budgets skyrocketed, and now make mostly just Kirby titles. We haven't seen anything from them aside from the Kirby collection since 2011, so at least two major games are probably in development - I'd guess a standard Kirby game for the Wii U and a ridiculous one for 3DS, but they could be doing something more surprising, as well. I'm betting on the former, however.

Creatures Inc

These guys have done some of the Pokemon Ranger titles and the Poke'park games. They have nothing currently announced, but I'll take a crazy stab in the dark and guess they're working on a Pokemon spin-off!

1-up Studios

Previously Brownie-Brown, they've made several games with big followings, such as Magical vacation, and Sword of Mana/Heroes of Mana, in addition to several other things. Most recently they made the hugely successful in Japan Fantasy Life. It seems a sequel to that is entirely likely, according to several comments the devs have made, but as we never got the first in the series, that isn't a particularly thrilling thought for us. At any rate, we could still get Fantasy Life, or their next title in the states; let's just hold our breath, eh?

Intelligent Systems

Intelligent Systems - creators of Fire Emblem, Advance Wars, Paper Mario, Pushmo, and the WarioWare series - recently had TONS of titles in development simultaneously. FE: Awakening, PM Sticker Star, Pushmo/Crashmo, and Game and Wario. Those are all done and released, however, so what's next? The only confirmed game currently is Fire Emblem X Shin Megami Tensei, which is being developed with Atlus. What else could they be making? An Advance Wars 3DS title seems a likely candidate, as is some sort of smaller E-shop title. I doubt they're making anything else at current; recent comments about needed sales numbers seemed to suggest they aren't creating a Wii U Fire Emblem, not yet at least, and three games would seem to be more than enough to handle at once. They may have a fourth, but I wouldn't count on it.

Recap

What have we learned today, kiddies?!? Well, an unannounced 3DS game from Monolith, an unannounced Pokemon spin-off from Creatures, a probable Advance Wars for 3DS and an E-shop title of some sort from Intelligent Systems, another game that won't come to the states from 1-up, and at least two games from HAL, probably Kirby.

Major Second Party Studios

Second Party studios are studios that Nintendo has a partial stake in, or is just publishing and funding their games. Let's go through the major ones first.

Next Level Games

Next level are the developers of the Mario Strikers series, Punch Out!!! Wii, and most recently, Luigi's Mansion 2. Miyamoto seems to hold them in the highest regard, and as such, I expect them to create a major Wii U title next. They seem to have been working towards creating a major title since October, as they've been expanding their studio since then - to cope with a big HD title, perhaps? Their history is pretty spastic, so predicting their next title is basically impossible. However, I suspect they might also be the devs of Miyamoto's new IP. Luigi's Mansion was a pet project of the man if anything was, and a new IP would fall under the same category, I'd say. Even if it isn't that, though, well, I'm excited to see what it is.

Platinum Games

As I'm sure you know, Nintendo decided to fund a couple games from Platinum as Wii U exclusives. The future of this relationship will probably come down to how well Wonderful 101 does sales-wise. If it does well, a sequel, another new IP, or maybe even a Star Fox seems more than likely. And if Bayonetta 2 does great, as well, the relationship between the two companies will only grow. Anyone else really hoping Platinum tries the action-adventure genre? I mean, it's the same people that did Okami, and we know how that worked out....

Gamefreak

If you don't know who Gamefreak is, you're a freak! Bahahaha..... sigh. Horrible, horrible puns aside, Gamefreak is a major studio, as they're in charge of the main series of Pokemon games. X&Y are releasing this October, of course, and they'll certainly continue to work on all the main Pokemon titles for the distant future. Recently, though, they've been making some 3DS E-shop titles, as well, first HarmoKnight, and now some weird card-horse racing game for Japan only. We'll probably see a few of the E-shop titles they decide to make in the future.

Camelot Software Planning

When the Saturn failed, Camelot abandoned Sega and joined Nintendo. After doing this, they've been in charge of three things: Golden Sun, Mario Golf, and Mario Tennis. With Dark Dawn not doing well sales-wise, I'm not sure how much Golden Sun we'll be seeing in the future, but with Mario Tennis Open releasing last year and Mario Golf 3DS releasing next year, it's clear they're still going strong with those series. I wonder if we'll see some sort of new JRPG from them. I doubt it, but I hope. They won't want to work on Mario sports games forever.

Good Feel

Good Feel has made several well-received games, most recently Wario Land Shake it and Kirby's Epic Yarn. They're working on Yarn Yoshi for Wii U now, which will surely be a great game. They also do lots of smaller projects, like Mii Force, or helping with Wii Play: Motion and Mario and Luigi Dream Team. They're a very talented studio, so I'm excited to see what all they do over the coming generation.

Mistwalker

Mistwalker was formed after Sakaguchi left Square all those years ago and decided to make his own studio. They've worked on games like Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, and Last Story. Most recently, they've been making some small games for Iphone and Android, but recent comments make it appear that they have a big project in the works again. Are they partnering with Nintendo? We'll see.

Monster Games

After making a few Excite games for the Wii and Wiiware, they made the 3DS launch title Pilotwings resort, and also the DKCR 3DS port. There's no way that took them two years to do, though, especially with retro helping them, so another project deep in development is more than likely. We'll see whether I'm right soon enough.

Recap

Next level has been working on something since October, probably a Wii U game. Camelot could be doing something other than just Mario sports titles. Mistwalker is working on a big project again, and it could be with Nintendo. And Monster Games has almost definitely been making something other than just DKCR3D since 2011. Everything else has been announced, and additional teams for any of these studios other than the ones I've mentioned are highly unlikely.

Other Second Party Studios

Alphadream - works on the Mario and Luigi games and some Japan-only smaller titles. If Dream Team doesn't do very well, they may try more new stuff, but otherwise I doubt they'll stop making M&L games. Almost certainly has no major games in development, as Dream Team just released.

Ambrella - In charge of a bunch of Pokemon spin-offs. Most recently the Pokemon Rumble series, which is continuing on Wii U with the NFC toys.

Arika - these guys were in charge of the 3D classics series for the 3DS E-shop, but those seem to be over now. They also make some low-profile fighting games, and the Endless Ocean series. They've been quiet since 2012, so we'll probably see something from them very soon.

Arzest - This studio is filled with key members of Artoon, which worked on games like Flingsmash and Yoshi's Island DS. The new studio's first game is Yoshi's New Island, releasing this fall.

Asobism - The Freakyforms series. Let's move along before I get creeped out.

Curve - made Fluidity/Spin Cycle. Probably working on some other E-shop game.

Ganbarion - only made Pandora's Tower with Nintendo, mostly just makes One Piece games, of which there are two in development, but they might join forces again in the future.

Grezzo - so far they've only worked on Zelda remakes, but they've been quiet since 2011, so I suspect a major project is in the works. Or Majora's Mask 3D. Or both.

Jupiter - makes a bunch of small games for handhelds. Making the Picross e games for the 3DS E-shop right now.

Kuju Entertainment - they've done a bunch of random games, usually nothing very big. Art Academy Sketchpad was their most recent release.

Noise - Has done only custom robo, but they say they're done with that. No games are announced right now, but they've been quiet for a while, so we'll see.

Paon - they used to do all the DK spin-offs, but they've been quiet for almost four years now. I think they're probably closed down, but they could be making something big.

Skip ltd. - they did most of the Art Style games for Wii/DSiWare. No idea what they might be doing now, if anything.

Tose - Starfy. Nuff said. Only not really. These guys help out with all sorts of games, and stay out of the spotlight. No one knows what games they've helped on. Also they make Starfy.

Treasure - have made Wario World and Sin and Punishment games with Nintendo. Are currently making Gaist Crushers with Capcom for 3DS.

Vanpool - the guys who make Tingle games! YEAH! They also have made the Dillon's Rolling Western series for 3DS E-shop. I expect them to be working on another E-shop game of some sort.

Vitei - work on Steel Diver with EAD5. Are currently making a FTP version for Wii U.

Third Party Collaborations

Naturally, Nintendo only has so many resources at their disposal, meaning they have to collaborate often. What companies have they collaborated with in the past, and might they do so again? For starters, there's Namco Bandai, who has made Mario Baseball games and of course, Smash Bros. U/3DS. That relationship seems to be going great if Nintendo trusts a franchise like that to them, so hopefully we'll see more from them. There's Atlus, who's helping make Shin Megami X Fire Emblem, but they're going bankrupt, so unless Nintendo buys them, which is unlikely at this point, nothing more can happen with them.

Then there's Sega. You've got Mario and Sonic Olympics, and the Lost World exclusivity deal. I don't see much besides Sonic happening between them, though. Square has made some Mario Sports titles for Nintendo, but I doubt anything more will happen there. And then there's Tecmo Koi, who has made the oh-so-well received Metroid: Other M. I DEFINITELY don't see anything more happening there. Capcom and Nintendo apparently are announcing a collaboration of some kind this month, but they haven't made something together since I believe Minish Cap, so I doubt it's anything big.

And that's that for third parties. Certainly not a whole lot going on there, though Smash being made by Namco definitely shows that Nintendo is capable of handing over control to another company in this day and age, so hopefully there's more going on than we know.

Conclusion

Honestly, no matter how much one might analyze, we'll never understand the inner workings of Nintendo. There could be any number of teams making major games that we just don't know about, or some of these studios could have closed down without us knowing, or who knows what else. But I think I've gotten a fairly good summary of what we might be able to expect from Nintendo's many developers. I hope this gave you some food for thought, I know most of you will skim at best, but I had a good time writing it, and hopefully some of you will find it interesting. Nintendo's 2014 lineup is small, but very good so far, and by my estimation it's looking to be at least great if any of these games that seem poised to be announced soon release next year. Hopefully this has helped to give you guys some realistic expectations for what Nintendo might be developing. What do you guys think? I'd like to know your thoughts, so sound off below!

I went into Rayman Legends expecting a masterpiece of a 2D platformer. After the exceptional Origins, which is in my top ten games ever list, and seeing all the 9.5+ reviews it was getting, I expected amazing things. And it was a good game - a really, really good game. But it was lacking. Below expectations. I hate to say disappointing, because of how good it was, but, well, disappointing.

First, the good: it's beautiful. Seriously. Beautiful. I actually prefer Origins' art style due to its' charm, but Legends has a lot more variety and detail in terms of visuals. And then there's the music: it's great. Christophe Heral did a really good job with it. It also didn't quite match Origins, but it's a great effort nonetheless. I'm rather partial to the Invaded music, myself.

I also quite enjoyed the Murphy levels, to my surprise. They were quite fun, getting the other character through the level. I'm sure it would be bloody spectacular in co-op, but as it is, the Murphy levels were just, or at least almost, as good as the platforming levels.

Bosses were also really fun. Good design, mindblowing presentation, and they had a nice difficulty, to boot. Final boss kinda sucked, but you can't win 'em all, I guess.

Here's my real problem with the game, though: it's too short. And that's normally not a huge problem or anything, but the game doesn't exactly adjust for the shortness. It's easy, far too easy, for far too long. The first three worlds felt like just going through the motions. It had some cool ideas here and there, the fast-paced ones could get exciting at times, and as I said a short paragraph ago, bosses were well done. But for the most part, just.... meh. I didn't really get into it. The levels were expertly designed, but they were just too easy. And that's understandable - the first several worlds of Origins weren't exactly challenging, either. And then in world 4 the game just takes off - incredible ideas, perfect challenge, amazing level design and pacing, and truly impressive spectacle. In world 5 it continues a lot of that, continuing to be excellent. And then it's over. Just like that. Just as the game gets interesting, gets exciting, it's done.

I had a similar experience with Origins, at the beginning - I somewhat enjoyed the start of the game, and then in world 4 I realized how stellar it was. And then it kept getting better, and better, and better as I continued through the next six worlds. And even after that, my opinion of it kept rising, as I slowly unlocked the stellar treasure chest levels, and eventually the Livid Dead, which was completely mindblowing.

Legends doesn't have anything like the Treasure Chest levels or the Livid Dead, which would have helped its' longevity and lack of challenge. It tries to do something like that, though - levels get "Invaded", which are a lot like the comets from Mario Galaxy. You have to hurry through a short, drastically remixed level to save all the teensies. I think these are supposed to be the substitute for the treasure chases, but like the main game, they're just really easy, which is odd, for bonus levels. The Livid Dead level in this one was an absolute breeze, too, which is ridiculous for the final challenge of a game.

So it's too short, too easy, and not near enough post-game content to make up for it. What really annoys me, though, is the challenge app and Back to Origins stuff. Because it's pointless. The challenges are all just adjusted versions of levels you've beaten, and I guess it should be fun to try and beat your friends on it, but.... I'm done with the game. Why should I put back in the disk for twenty minutes a day just to play a level I've already beaten? And then there's the Back To Origins stuff, where you can play 40 or 50 remastered levels from Origins. This particularly annoys me. You know how we could play these levels? By playing Origins. It's pointless.

It's annoying because the game is so short, and these are just attempting to artificially lengthen it. Yet, they wasted time putting these in. You know what they could have done instead of remastering 50 levels and making the framework for the challenge app? Make another world or two. It doesn't even need bosses or music levels or new art or anything; just give us some fun, extra, maybe even challenging bonus content instead of spending so much energy giving us what we already have.

Yowza, I'm sounding really entitled, aren't I? But you know what - I SHOULD feel entitled. I spent 65 bucks on this game. I should get what I paid for. I expected the game to be at least as long as Origins, but it was barely half. It didn't give a good length, or difficulty, in either the main game or post game, and instead gave me stuff I never asked for and don't particularly care for now I have it. You know how you keep people playing your game for months, Ubisoft Montpelier? You give 'em amazing levels they can replay over and over. I played every treasure chest level and the Livid Dead in Origins every day for a month after I 100%ed the game, because it continued to be rewarding and challenging and fun even after accomplishing everything. There's nothing like that here.

Even after saying all that, though..... it's not a bad game. It's a really good one. Level design and pacing were certainly above average. It had lots of super cool ideas. Bosses were excellent. Music levels were cool, as were Murphy levels. It looks stunning throughout. And can I just say again how friggin awesome world 4 was? But it's so, so far beneath what it could, and should, have been. After the masterpiece that was Rayman Origins, a game that will go down in genre history, this is simply a disappointment. A very fun disappointment - but a disappointment. And one that I can't suggest at its asking price point.

Of course, this is purely for single player. If you have people who would want to play this game with you regularly, I can only imagine how fun it could get. Possibly unmatched. But if you only plan on only playing single player, then I'd say wait for a price drop or two. Of course, I know this isn't the majority opinion, so I'd love to hear what you guys think, whether if I'm wrong or if you see where I'm coming from. So sound off below, my slap-happy heroes! *gets slapped*